Support Sky Harbor Airport

Phoenix Sky Harbor: #1 Airport in the Country

The Airport is an economic engine for the entire region with an annual economic impact of nearly $40 billion, creating 58,000 jobs with over 1,200 take offs and landings every day. 

In addition to handling over 125,000 passengers a day, the Airport also manages 2.1 million pounds of cargo on one of the smallest footprints of any major airport in the country. It is an economic gem for the entire region – in the heart of the 5th largest city in the country. 

Sky Harbor Airport receives NO tax revenue and is supported only by rent and fees paid by the companies who use its facilities. Rideshare companies represent 70% of the airport’s commercial traffic but pay only a fraction of what it costs to maintain and improve access to the airport. 

Over 1,000 businesses pay fees to operate at Sky Harbor Airport. That fee revenue is the primary source of funds for the Airport to operate and expand. 

In November of 2019, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport was named the best airport in the nation by the Wall Street Journal – the nation’s most pre-eminent business publication. 

HB 2817 is government interference in a long-standing, uniform fee structure to solely exempt two companies. 

HB 2817 unfairly exempts two companies out of the over 1,000 from paying those fees. These same companies that would benefit from this legislation pay fees at every other major airport in the United States – often much higher than in Phoenix. 

All ground transportation fees at Sky Harbor were set after a 1 1⁄2 year process which included all ground transportation providers, extensive consultant studies looking at fees all across the country. HB 2817 would negate all of that. 

HB 2817 is unfair to all other companies and could, if signed into law, begin to unravel one of the region’s best economic engines. 

HB 2817 negatively impacts every airport in the State; Phoenix, Tucson Phoenix- Mesa Gateway and the state’s own airport at the Grand Canyon – who all charge fees to Transportation Network Companies to access their airport. 

With up to 1,800 rideshare trips to airport curbs per hour, these companies do a lot of business at the airport. If they want to continue, they should pay to maintain the roadways and curbs they use, similar to how airport restaurants pay to maintain their spaces and airlines pay to maintain runways. 

HB 2817 is Special Legislation for Two California Companies Let the Market Decide Price Not Government 

Every surface transportation provider at Sky Harbor pays fees to access the airport property; hotels, off airport parking companies, taxies, limousines, etc. By letting the free market dictate choices and sending price signals to the marketplace, Sky Harbor can manage congestion at the Airport and keep the curb relatively accessible for passengers choosing to be dropped off and picked up there. 

HB 2817 is bad for the Airport, harms businesses operating at Sky Harbor and is a heavy-handed government attempt to manipulate the market for two California businesses. 

Please oppose HB 2817.